"Figures. Well, I'm ready to kick his ass and feed him his own horns. You're gonna get that eidolon." He smoothly slid the blade back into its sheath, and with a sigh and a looseness of his shoulders, he dismissed the Asterisk. The armor dissolved from him.

"I, uh, wondered how that'd work... we kinda jumped through a helluva hoop to wake up that part of ourselves. Hell, we still don't know why Nanako-chan just got so sick. She's real young, yeah, but..."

He shrugged helplessly. "There's gotta be more to it. Some kids mature real early, and Nanako-chan had to help take care of her old man way before she should'a been. She's... the most grown-up little girl I know."